Monday, October 22, 2018
OPEN HOUSE: RACHEL'S VINEYARD
Rachel’s Vineyard & Undefeated Courage will be offering another Open House at the new Columbia, PA retreat house. All are welcome!
Rachel’s Vineyard & Undefeated Courage provide ministry and compassion to those who grieve children lost in the womb, particularly through abortion. Rachel's Vineyard is a structured and guided weekend group retreat, developed by Dr. Theresa Burke, based on biblical readings and exercises of forgiveness and healing. Retreats are available to men and women of any faith. More information about retreats is available at /www.rachelsvineyard.org/.
The house will be open to tour/explore from 12-2 on SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10. Retreat team-members will be available for hospitality and conversation.
The address is 1029 Lancaster Ave, Columbia, PA 17512.
There is limited parking behind the retreat house. Please park in the front lot of Sahd’s Metal Recycling next door, and walk over.
God bless, and thank you!
NEWS FROM THE CANCER CARE MINISTRY
Click here to read about the latest happenings from GCCM.
And here to learn about how you can support local students and the Cancer Care Ministry.
And here to learn about how you can support local students and the Cancer Care Ministry.
AN UPDATE FROM AL & MICKEY WILLIAMS
Dear friends,
A great deal has happened since we wrote to you in September. It has been a challenging time and we are
greatly blessed to have each of you praying for and supporting us each step of this journey. The Risk Assessment meetings last month in Orlando, Florida were a great success. We decided to gather the larger team again for the next meeting November 1. This will be an online conference again of twelve people
from six organizations. I (Al) have been asked to facilitate this session and work toward a conclusion that we hope to put online by the middle of 2019. I’m looking forward to writing to you about that development as the team puts it all together and rolls it out. The focus is on prayer for the Bibleless people of the world and I believe it is going to be a very exciting development.
As we wrote to you in September, I was busy preparing for my trip to Thailand for the Global Leaders
Meetings. At the same time, a crisis was hitting several of our teams in a restrictive Asian country. Several
teams had to leave for their home countries and several others are under a great deal of stress. I have spent
quite a bit of time working with a Crisis Management Team formed to deal with this crisis and the leaders of
this group. They, like many others across Asia, are serving in some very challenging situations. This threat is far from over. I very much appreciate the opportunity to help them and we will all appreciate your prayers for wisdom and direction.
As that crisis was unfolding and the date for my departure to Thailand was rapidly approaching, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit just north of the city of Palu in Indonesia. The city of Palu and the surrounding area were heavily damaged by the earthquake but the disaster did not end there. Shortly after the earthquake, a tsunami wave swept from the south, up the bay and over the northern half of the city.
The destruction was unimaginable. At last report, nearly 2,100 people are known to have died and an
additional 5,000 have been reported missing. I have visited Palu several times to provide safety and
security training to the teams who have been living and working in this region. My heart aches for those
who lost their lives and the thousands who have been injured. Several of our families were able to evacuate
Palu City on military transport to another city where they are recovering from this tragedy. There are a
great many unknowns ahead for them and the people they work with and serve in the Palu area.
I am so thankful for the opportunities I have had to serve them and I thank each of you for making this
possible. Last week one of those family members wrote to me to say:
“I’m very appreciative of all your training and experience that you shared with me a few years ago... I wish we hadn’t needed it, but even in the midst of this I can see that things have gone relatively smoothly compared to what could have been and a large part of that is due to how you have helped us in the past.”
Please pray with me for the people of Palu and these dear families who have been impacted by the earthquake and tsunami. May the Lord bring healing and direction for their future ministry with the people of Palu. October 4, I left home for Bangkok, Thailand and the Global Leaders Meetings. I joined a team of four to provide safety and security oversight for the conference of 230 Leaders and staff from around the world. It was a great opportunity to look back at what the Lord has been doing in our ministry of Bible translation and language development, and to look to the Lord for His leading for the future.
In addition to keeping focused on the two crisis events I am assisting with in Asia, I was able to listen in on the presentations and meet personally with several of the leaders that I serve in my security and contingency preparedness roll. It was a full and encouraging week. I’m home now and Mickey and I are preparing for our trip to Michigan next week for the mission conference at Five Points Community Church in Auburn Hills. We are looking forward to seeing our friends in that area as well as telling the stories of what we are seeing the Lord doing through the work in progress in Asia. November 6, I plan to be back on an airplane headed to Kansas City and the Fusion program at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. I have been asked again to join the team of trainers for this last week of the training section of the Fusion program that is preparing students for a semester of overseas service alongside veteran workers in some very difficult and challenging locations. You may remember my participation last year in this training in hostile interrogation and hostage survival. It is intense training and has served well in preparing the students for the work ahead of them. I will appreciate your prayers for the group this year as they learn from these intense sessions. We also thank you for your prayers for our family. We are going through some very stressful days and your prayers and encouragement are so precious to us. Our trust is in the Lord and we continue to look to Him for our strength. You standing with us is very precious.
We will also appreciate your prayers for our financial support needs. We have been blessed to have many
faithful individuals assisting with our financial support during our 36 years with Wycliffe, however, in recent years, many of those individuals have passed away or are no longer able to assist with our financial support. This reality, along with increasing expenses, has left a shortfall that is becoming quite challenging. Please pray with us that the Lord will provide opportunities to share our ministry with Wycliffe with others who will desire to join our team for the future.
Thanks and God bless you.
Al
Prayer & Praise Points:
1. Praise for the good Risk Management meetings in Orlando, FL in September and a good internet
connection for Al to participate in them remotely. Pray for the continuation of those meetings that will
be done online November 1.
2. Praise the Lord for safety in travel and during the Global Leaders Meetings in Thailand in October.
3. Pray for wisdom for Al as he assists teams in a restricted Asian country where the government is
becoming more hostile toward the Gospel.
4. Pray for the Indonesian people and the teams working there who have been affected by the
earthquake. Pray for God’s healing touch and for direction for the teams regarding future work there.
5. Pray for good health, safety, and wisdom to know what to share as we participate in a mission
conference in Michigan from Oct. 24-28.
6. Pray for Mickey’s father’s health in our absence.
7. Praise that Mickey’s sister (who has been living with us since early Feb.) is available to help Dad and
care for our house and pets while we’re away.
8. Pray for multiple extended family issues that are a great concern to us.
9. Pray for Al as he travels to Kansas City in early November to be on staff for the Fusion course.
10. Pray for God’s provision financially to enable us to continue serving with Wycliffe.
A great deal has happened since we wrote to you in September. It has been a challenging time and we are
greatly blessed to have each of you praying for and supporting us each step of this journey. The Risk Assessment meetings last month in Orlando, Florida were a great success. We decided to gather the larger team again for the next meeting November 1. This will be an online conference again of twelve people
from six organizations. I (Al) have been asked to facilitate this session and work toward a conclusion that we hope to put online by the middle of 2019. I’m looking forward to writing to you about that development as the team puts it all together and rolls it out. The focus is on prayer for the Bibleless people of the world and I believe it is going to be a very exciting development.
As we wrote to you in September, I was busy preparing for my trip to Thailand for the Global Leaders
Meetings. At the same time, a crisis was hitting several of our teams in a restrictive Asian country. Several
teams had to leave for their home countries and several others are under a great deal of stress. I have spent
quite a bit of time working with a Crisis Management Team formed to deal with this crisis and the leaders of
this group. They, like many others across Asia, are serving in some very challenging situations. This threat is far from over. I very much appreciate the opportunity to help them and we will all appreciate your prayers for wisdom and direction.
As that crisis was unfolding and the date for my departure to Thailand was rapidly approaching, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit just north of the city of Palu in Indonesia. The city of Palu and the surrounding area were heavily damaged by the earthquake but the disaster did not end there. Shortly after the earthquake, a tsunami wave swept from the south, up the bay and over the northern half of the city.
The destruction was unimaginable. At last report, nearly 2,100 people are known to have died and an
additional 5,000 have been reported missing. I have visited Palu several times to provide safety and
security training to the teams who have been living and working in this region. My heart aches for those
who lost their lives and the thousands who have been injured. Several of our families were able to evacuate
Palu City on military transport to another city where they are recovering from this tragedy. There are a
great many unknowns ahead for them and the people they work with and serve in the Palu area.
I am so thankful for the opportunities I have had to serve them and I thank each of you for making this
possible. Last week one of those family members wrote to me to say:
“I’m very appreciative of all your training and experience that you shared with me a few years ago... I wish we hadn’t needed it, but even in the midst of this I can see that things have gone relatively smoothly compared to what could have been and a large part of that is due to how you have helped us in the past.”
Please pray with me for the people of Palu and these dear families who have been impacted by the earthquake and tsunami. May the Lord bring healing and direction for their future ministry with the people of Palu. October 4, I left home for Bangkok, Thailand and the Global Leaders Meetings. I joined a team of four to provide safety and security oversight for the conference of 230 Leaders and staff from around the world. It was a great opportunity to look back at what the Lord has been doing in our ministry of Bible translation and language development, and to look to the Lord for His leading for the future.
In addition to keeping focused on the two crisis events I am assisting with in Asia, I was able to listen in on the presentations and meet personally with several of the leaders that I serve in my security and contingency preparedness roll. It was a full and encouraging week. I’m home now and Mickey and I are preparing for our trip to Michigan next week for the mission conference at Five Points Community Church in Auburn Hills. We are looking forward to seeing our friends in that area as well as telling the stories of what we are seeing the Lord doing through the work in progress in Asia. November 6, I plan to be back on an airplane headed to Kansas City and the Fusion program at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. I have been asked again to join the team of trainers for this last week of the training section of the Fusion program that is preparing students for a semester of overseas service alongside veteran workers in some very difficult and challenging locations. You may remember my participation last year in this training in hostile interrogation and hostage survival. It is intense training and has served well in preparing the students for the work ahead of them. I will appreciate your prayers for the group this year as they learn from these intense sessions. We also thank you for your prayers for our family. We are going through some very stressful days and your prayers and encouragement are so precious to us. Our trust is in the Lord and we continue to look to Him for our strength. You standing with us is very precious.
We will also appreciate your prayers for our financial support needs. We have been blessed to have many
faithful individuals assisting with our financial support during our 36 years with Wycliffe, however, in recent years, many of those individuals have passed away or are no longer able to assist with our financial support. This reality, along with increasing expenses, has left a shortfall that is becoming quite challenging. Please pray with us that the Lord will provide opportunities to share our ministry with Wycliffe with others who will desire to join our team for the future.
Thanks and God bless you.
Al
Prayer & Praise Points:
1. Praise for the good Risk Management meetings in Orlando, FL in September and a good internet
connection for Al to participate in them remotely. Pray for the continuation of those meetings that will
be done online November 1.
2. Praise the Lord for safety in travel and during the Global Leaders Meetings in Thailand in October.
3. Pray for wisdom for Al as he assists teams in a restricted Asian country where the government is
becoming more hostile toward the Gospel.
4. Pray for the Indonesian people and the teams working there who have been affected by the
earthquake. Pray for God’s healing touch and for direction for the teams regarding future work there.
5. Pray for good health, safety, and wisdom to know what to share as we participate in a mission
conference in Michigan from Oct. 24-28.
6. Pray for Mickey’s father’s health in our absence.
7. Praise that Mickey’s sister (who has been living with us since early Feb.) is available to help Dad and
care for our house and pets while we’re away.
8. Pray for multiple extended family issues that are a great concern to us.
9. Pray for Al as he travels to Kansas City in early November to be on staff for the Fusion course.
10. Pray for God’s provision financially to enable us to continue serving with Wycliffe.
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